Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers

Dacia Arnold & Apparent Power

May 28, 2018 20:37 - 38 minutes - 43.9 MB

Dacia M. Arnold is an author of adult dystopian and dark fiction. She enjoys writing main characters who are otherwise normal people with extraordinary abilities. Dacia is also a ten-year Army veteran who served two tours of combat as a medic. She didn’t start writing fiction, in fact, until a few years ago. However, she wrote what she wanted to read and first novel was a winner—it drew attention in unfinished form through an online platform and it’s now set for publication from Immortal...

Mandy Mikulencak & The Last Suppers

May 21, 2018 13:09 - 37 minutes - 43.4 MB

Writer of the Year nominee Mandy Mikulencak lives outside Durango but grew up in Texas. She has set one published novel, The Last Suppers, in Louisiana and the next one, due out next year, is set in Mississippi. Her first book was a gritty young adult novel set in Durango called Burn Girl, a title that was honored with a 2016 Westchester Fiction Award. Mandy Mikulencak has been a writer her entire working life. First, as a journalist and then as an editor and PR specialist for two nati...

Brian M. Taylor & 12 Blackened Petals

May 14, 2018 15:03 - 44 minutes - 50.8 MB

Brian M. Taylor is a 41-year-old writer who lives outside of Denver. As he puts it in his official bio, Brian has spent his life learning new skills in order to tell better stories. Brian’s first novel was released in 2016 and today he has three novels under his belt with many more to come. Brian writes science fiction and fantasy and the over-arching title for his series is 12 Blackened Petals. In Brian’s own words, it’s a “large, epic story.” What’s unique about Brian’s work is that ...

Gwen Florio & Silent Hearts

May 09, 2018 23:07 - 35 minutes - 41 MB

Writer of the Year finalist Gwen Florio, interviewed by Natasha Watts, talks about her writing influences, the differences and similarities between journalism and writing fiction, her most recent mystery releases and her novel Silent Hearts, set to release in July. Gwen Florio grew up in 250-year-old brick farmhouse on a wildlife refuge in Delaware, with a sweeping view across a mile of tidemarsh to the waters of the Delaware Bay. She majored in English at the University of Delaware, large...

Paul Toth & Science Fiction Ideas

April 23, 2018 14:15 - 39 minutes - 44.8 MB

Paul Toth’s interest in science fiction may have started in an extremely remote town in Alaska where fantasy role playing helped add to the variety of life. But through moves to San Francisco and Boise and now Omaha, Paul has kept up his interest in science fiction and today he is shopping his first book. On the podcast, Paul talks a bit about a recent guest post on the RMFW blog about where science fiction ideas come from. He also tells us about that first book, which involves a rogue p...

Kristen Lamb - Stories & Branding

April 12, 2018 20:06 - 35 minutes - 40.6 MB

Every Spring, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers puts on a day-long education event. This year, the event will be held on Saturday, May 12 and it’s a two-parter. In the morning, it’s The Art of Storytelling and in the afternoon, The Art of Author Branding and both are being presented by Kristen Lamb. For a sneak peek at both topics, we’ve got Kristen this time on the podcast to give us a sample of the topics she is going to cover in her down-to-earth style. Kristen Lamb is the author of th...

Shannon Baker - 2017 RMFW Writer of the Year

April 04, 2018 22:44 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MB

Last summer, Shannon Baker was named Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Writer of the Year – for the second time! So life as a published writer should be on a never-ending upward spiral of success, correct? Well, Shannon Baker is a survivor of the wild and ever unpredictable publishing-world roller coaster and on the podcast she talks about the bruises and how she managed her way through the sometimes challenging gauntlet. And she’s here to break some fresh news that shows the roller coas...

Sue Hinkin & Deadly Focus

March 30, 2018 12:57 - 30 minutes - 34.4 MB

Sue Hinkin, interviewed by Natasha Watts, talks about her debut thriller, "Deadly Focus." The chat covers writing realistic, diverse characters, the importance of critique groups and community, and her book signing coming up with Becky Clark on April 20th. Raised in Chicago, Sue Hinkin is a former college administrator (most recently at DU), TV news photographer, and NBC-TV art department head. With a B.A. from St. Olaf College, she completed graduate work at the University of Michigan a...

Sue Duff & Dim The Lights

March 11, 2018 16:03 - 38 minutes - 43.8 MB

When Sue Duff started writing The Weir Chronicles, she knew she wanted an out-of-the-ordinary super hero. She came up with Ian Black, an illusionist with a talent for keeping secrets. She also came up with the Weir, a magical race who struggle to prevent Earth from self-destructing. With the publication last month of the appropriately-titled Dim The Lights, Sue Duff closes the books on her five-book chronicles and sets her sights on writing new stories. On the podcast, Sue talks about th...

John E. Stith & Pushback

March 04, 2018 16:36 - 35 minutes - 41.1 MB

Every now and then, writing gets “sidetracked by life.” Just ask John Stith. After a productive stretch of writing mystery-tinged science fiction novels in the 1980’s and 1980’s, life got in the way. So writing took an understandable hiatus. But now, John Stith is back and looking forward to the publication, later this year, of his first full-fledged mystery, a novel called Pushback. John E. Stith is the author of eight novels, including Redshift Rendezvous, a Nebula Award nominee, a...

Chris Goff & Writing Mysteries During Fraught Times

February 25, 2018 16:00 - 34 minutes - 39.8 MB

This coming Saturday—March 3—the Colorado Book Festival descends on the downtown Denver Public Library with over 100 authors and a whole day of talks and panels and writers with their books on hand to sale. The day is organized by the Colorado Authors League but there is good representation from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, including Chris Goff moderating a panel at 2 p.m. It’s called Why Mysteries Are Popular During Fraught Times and her panelists include Carter Wilson and Manuel Ramos...

Alissa Johnson & Setting Achievable Goals

February 20, 2018 14:39 - 30 minutes - 34.7 MB

Award winning writer and WritingStrides coach Alissa Johnson is the guest. Alissa recently presented to the Western Slope group in Grand Junction and she will give RMFW's free monthly talk in March, "Writing Reset: Setting Achievable Goals." (Her workshop is Saturday, March 17 in Denver.) On the podcast, Alissa talks with guest interviewer Natasha Watts about her WritingStrides community and how to balance creativity with your career. Ever wish you could hit the reset button for your...

Mike Houtz & Dark Spiral Down

February 16, 2018 14:22 - 37 minutes - 43.1 MB

Mike Houtz just signed a deal with Wild Rose Press to publish his first novel, Dark Spiral Down. The deal wouldn’t have happened had Mike not signed up for one of the key features at every Colorado Gold conference—to pitch to the many agents and editors who fly into Denver every September for the express purpose of meeting new talent. One thing to led another and Mike signed the deal with Wild Rose Press just a couple of weeks ago. After a career in medicine, Mike Houtz succumbed to th...

Pamela Nowak & Colorado Gold Conference Workshop Proposals

February 09, 2018 16:53 - 32 minutes - 36.9 MB

In the words of Pamela Nowak, there are “tough decisions” ahead. That’s because she and her committee will receive three times as many proposals for workshops at Colorado Gold than she has room to book. Yes, planning for the 2018 edition of September’s Colorado Gold conference is well underway and that includes determining the topics and presenters for the 70 or so hours of programming that is being selected and organized. On the podcast, Pam takes us behind the scenes of the process a...

Jason Evans & Writing Memorable Villains

February 02, 2018 14:08 - 39 minutes - 45.3 MB

On Saturday February 17, Jason Evans is leading RMFW’s free monthly workshop and if you have trouble developing and writing your bad guy, this session might be just what you need. The program is about writing memorable villains and on the podcast we’ve got Jason Evans here for a preview of what he’s going to cover—and exactly how he’ll inspire you to get it right. Your villain, Jason says, needs to be a “fun house mirror” version of your hero and “great villainy” grows from true pain. ...

Susan Brooks & Colorado Gold Planning - Literary Wanderlust Update

January 20, 2018 17:43 - 35 minutes - 40.6 MB

As soon as we turned the corner into 2018, the conference planning for 2018 kicked into gear. In fact, planning started much earlier but RMFW members and others were notified a couple of weeks ago that they now have the chance to apply to present during one of 70 or so workshop slots that will be offered during 2018 Colorado Gold in September. That prompted a check-in with conference co-chair Susie Brooks for a quick overview of the workshop proposal process. It also gave us a chance t...

Wendy Terrien: RMFW's 2017 Independent Writer of the Year

January 04, 2018 02:58 - 40 minutes - 46.1 MB

Last summer, Wendy Terrien was named Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Independent Writer of the Year. In August, she published two novels on the same day. Both were sequels to her first novel, The Rampart Guards, which just happened to be named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2016. In December, she was elected president of RMFW. Today, she’s busy working on a new novel and she's got an agent who is preparing to help her land a traditional publishing deal. In short, Wendy Terrien ...

Jennifer Rose & The Book of Keys

December 31, 2017 17:22 - 35 minutes - 40.1 MB

Jennifer Rose might have just what you need as you begin to ponder your writing goals and plans for 2018. On Saturday, Jan. 6 Jennifer is presenting RMFW’s free monthly workshop at the Sam Gary Branch library in Denver. It’s called "Level Up Your Mindset and Productivity." Jennifer is here on the podcast with a preview of some of the tools and tips she’ll be discussing. But, wait, there's more. There's also Jennifer's fairly unusual combination of interests – both martial arts and op...

Denitta Ward & Somewhere Still

December 17, 2017 15:48 - 35 minutes - 40.6 MB

Denitta Ward will tell you that she did it all backwards. But she got on the path to publication earlier this year when took RMFW’s online course about self-publishing, taught by Lisa Price Manifold. The result? The publication of her first novel, Somewhere Still, in November. Denitta is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association, the Historical Novel Society, and (of course) Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She is delighted to be the 100th member of IPAL. After decades of wr...

Pat Stoltey & Wishing Caswell Dead

December 05, 2017 02:25 - 36 minutes - 41.8 MB

Pat Stoltey’s fourth novel comes out in just a few short weeks (Dec.20) and it’s been quite a ride. Revised and revised some more, Pat says that one point she realized she had written the life out of her characters. So she backed up and started over again until she got it right. Wishing Caswell Dead is set in the early 1800's in a village on the Illinois frontier. It’s a historical mystery about the evil that hides within a village, one girl who is determined to save herself and her ch...

Kevin Wolf & Brokeheart

November 26, 2017 17:16 - 37 minutes - 42.4 MB

This time, a story of going with the flow. After writing for more than a decade, Kevin Wolf won a major award in a writing contest and the prize included a contract with none other than St. Martin’s Press. Last month, Kevin Wolf published his second novel, Brokeheart, and he’s with a whole new publisher. Both books are set in Colorado and both were inspired by locations in the state that stem from Kevin’s own family history, but one story is set in the present and the new one takes us ...

Saytchyn Maddux-Creech & Writing Short Stories

November 17, 2017 00:23 - 35 minutes - 40.3 MB

Are you comfortable writing short stories? Have you thought about it, but don’t know how or where to begin? Saytchyn Maddux-Creech is here to help. Saytchyn is teaching a 15-day online class called, Write An Amazing Short Story in Two Weeks. The course is being offered online through RMFW-U beginning Dec. 2. On the podcast, Saytchyn gives a sneak peek at her approach to writing short stories—she’s published about 20—and touches on some of the key ideas she’ll cover in the course. Even ...

Emily Littlejohn & A Season to Lie

November 13, 2017 14:14 - 36 minutes - 41.9 MB

Emily Littlejohn says luck may have played a small role in getting her first novel published, but so did hard work and listening to feedback from experts. As Emily puts it, books are not written in a vacuum. Inherit the Bones, published at this time last year, was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. This week, A Season To Lie releases and it also features police detective Gemma Monroe solving murders in the fictional Colorado mountain town of Cedar Valley. Emily Littlejohn is a forme...

Jayme H. Mansfield & Rush

October 31, 2017 13:16 - 34 minutes - 39.1 MB

Jayme H. Mansfield found fiction in her own family history. Rush, her second novel, launches Nov. 1 and it's based on the life of Jayme’s great-great grandmother and the details of her involvement in the Oklahoma Land Run of 1893. Using original letters from the era and her own research in Oklahoma, Jayme found out that “tall tales” about her ancestor weren’t so tall—and would make for a good novel. Jayme H. Mansfield is an author, artist, and educator—and feels a bit incomplete when s...

Jennifer Kincheloe & The Woman in the Camphor Trunk

October 17, 2017 17:37 - 31 minutes - 36.1 MB

Jennifer Kincheloe is back on the podcast and she’s got a brand new historical mystery coming out in just a few short weeks. The first book, The Secret Life of Anna Blanc, was a finalist for a slew of awards and also was winner of the Mystery & Mayhem Award for Historical Mystery. Earlier, it also won the Colorado Gold contest. So there’s lots of anticipation for book two, The Woman in the Camphor Trunk, debuting in mid-November from Seventh Street Books. We caught up with Jennifer las...

Aimie K. Runyan & Daughters of the Night Sky

October 10, 2017 17:27 - 41 minutes - 47 MB

After listening to this episode with historical fiction writer Aimie K. Runyan, you might want to think about keeping an idea file. When things went flat with her first publisher, Aimie needed a Plan B and she was ready, dipping into a list of concepts she wanted to take from idea stage to full length novel. Now, 18 months after her first novel was published, Aimie is less than three months from the launch of book number three, Daughters of the Night Sky. Her readiness, and flexibility...

Shawn Harper & Matryoshka Blues

September 27, 2017 16:46 - 36 minutes - 41.8 MB

Shawn Harper calls it "the good kind of hurt." That’s the hurt from hearing a comment at your critique group that means there’s work to be done, that your work in progress is not quite ready for prime time. On Oct. 7, Shawn is one of four panelists leading RMFW'ss free monthly workshop called Getting the Most Out of Your Critique Group. On the podcast, Shawn passes along a few pointers and suggestions if you’re thinking of diving into the critique group scene. And Shawn would tell yo...

Jeff Lockwood Poisoned Justice

September 19, 2017 23:45 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MB

Episode #100 of the Rocky Mountain Writer podcast comes down to three things: insects, noir and a preview of the upcoming workshop this weekend on bone forensics. The guest is writer Jeff Lockwood, who earned a doctorate in entomology and who has worked for 15 years as an insect ecologist at the University of Wyoming. But Jeff is also a writer of fiction and last year published his first crime novel, Poisoned Justice, featuring ex-cop turned pest exterminator C.V. Riley, who plies his t...

Kerry Schafer/Kerry Anne King - World Tree Girl, I Wish You Happy

September 12, 2017 21:31 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MB

We last checked in with Kerry Schafer way back in February of 2016 and she was on the phone from her home in Washington State. This time, we’ve got her for in-person chat, recorded last week at Colorado Gold, RMFW’s big annual three-day writing conference in Denver. We’re more than 18 months down the road since the last intervew, but Kerry Schafer is as busy as she was back then, with two new titles – World Tree Girl by Kerry Schafer and I Wish You Happy by her alter-ego Kerry Anne King....

Peggy Waide & RMFW-U Online Classes

August 31, 2017 21:30 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MB

The guest on the podcast this time is the only person in Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers with the title of “dean.” Peggy Waide is the dean of RMFW University, an online learning program that is offering an increasingly rich series of classes. In fact, there’s a class coming up in mid-September with Sharon Mignery titled The Art and Craft of Building Great Conflict. Classes this year have already covered writing the dreaded synopsis, one on writing effective flashbacks, one on writing wi...

2017 Writer of the Year Panel - Live from The Tattered Cover

August 26, 2017 22:26 - 1 hour - 85.1 MB

Okay, friends, we did this in 2015 and 2016 and here it is again—the live taping from the panel at the Tattered Cover with the Writer of the Year and the Independent Writer of the Year finalists. This event was taped on Wednesday, August 23 at the Tattered Cover on East Colfax. The moderators are 2016 Writer of the Year Mark Stevens and 2016 Independent Writer of the Year Lisa Manifold. The panelists are Wendy Terrien, 2017 Independent Writer of the Year; Shannon Baker, 2017 Writer of ...

Kate Jonuska & Transference

August 23, 2017 19:43 - 39 minutes - 36 MB

When she finished writing her novel Transference, Kate Jonuska came to a fork in a road and, as Yogi Berra once said, she took it. The question was how to publish? Traditional? Or independent? Kate was surprised that her views on the choice had changed and it was a choice she said was informed by her time in RMFW. A Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers member since 2014, Kate Jonuska is a writer and author based in Boulder, Colorado. Kate has a decade of experience writing features for t...

Alice Kober - 2017 Honored Guiding Member

August 18, 2017 19:58 - 44 minutes - 40.3 MB

Two years ago, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers started a new tradition of recognizing Honored Guiding Members, those individuals who have significantly contributed to the success of the organization over the years. Honorees are selected for their talent and abilities, as well as the leadership they've shown. This year, it’s Alice Kober. Alice Kober has been a member of RMFW for over 20 years. She has volunteered for numerous jobs, including Conference Chair and RMFW President. She was g...

Curtis Craddock & An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors

August 14, 2017 15:35 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MB

The first million words are practice, right? Many times on the podcast we’ve had examples of patience and dedication and hard work, and this chat with Curtis Craddock is proof again of the notion that you just need to keep writing and keep getting better. It also doesn't hurt to attend Colorado Gold. We’ve had stories in the past about chance meetings at the conference and again a very random encounter put Curtis Craddock together with the right editor and that informal meeting led to ...

Fleur Bradley & The Double Vision Trilogy

August 05, 2017 16:41 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MB

The interview with Fleur Bradley, a.k.a. F.T. Bradley, was recorded one day before the news circulated that all spots at RMFW's Colorado Gold Conference in September are now taken. If you’re going to the conference, this chat with Fleur will give a taste of the three workshops she is presenting—one on marketing, one that provides an overview of the children’s fiction market, and one about the advantages of using plot points as you write. And if you’re not going to the conference, Fleur a...

Heather Webb & Deep Revision

July 23, 2017 15:45 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MB

"Deep Revision - Making the Good Even Better" is the title of a master class being taught by Heather Webb at Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's Colorado Gold conference in September. On the podcast, Heather talks about the topics she’ll cover in those four hours of in-depth learning. Heather also gives us a peek at books she has coming out later this year and early next. The first is an epistolary love story she co-wrote with Hazel Gaynor called Last Christmas in Paris. The second is a re...

Corinne OFlynn & Ghosts of Witches Past

July 12, 2017 16:43 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MB

Corinne O’Flynn is the unflappable conference chair for RMFW’s big three day conference, Colorado Gold, coming up in early September. But of course, she is also a writer of fantasy and mystery. So this time on the podcast it's a dual-purpose interview, to catch up with Corinne’s writing and find out about the new features and some of the guests arriving from all over the country and, in fact, world for Colorado Gold. Corinne O’Flynn is the author of The Expatriates fantasy-adventure se...